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November 25, 2013 - After a successful run of their first play this summer, M.A.D Playhouse brings us another South Asian family drama Half-Hearted written by Mohan Rakesh, and directed by Hafiz Karmali at The Cherry Lane Theater from December 19 through December 22.

We were talking the other day about desire and the conflict which arises from desire and I would like to continue with that, and to talk also about need, passion, and love because I think they are all related. If we can go into it all deeply and fundamentally, then perhaps we shall be able to understand the whole significance of desire. But before we can understand desire, with all its conflicts and tortures, I think we ought to understand the question of need. We do, of course, need certain superficial outward things, like clothes, shelter, and food. Those are absolutely essential for all. But I wonder if we need anything else, at all? Psychologically, is there actually any need for sex, for fame, for the compulsive urge of ambition, the everlasting inward demand for more and more? What do we need, psychologically? We think we need a great many things, and from that arises all the sorrow of dependence. But if we really go into it deeply and inquire, is there any essential need at all, psychologically, inwardly? I think it would be worthwhile if we would seriously ask ourselves this question. The psychological dependence on another in relationship, the need to be in communion with another, the need to commit oneself to some form of thought and activity, the need to fulfill, to become famous - we all know such needs, and we are everlastingly yielding to them. And I think it would be significant if we could, each one of us, try to find out what our needs actually are, and to what extent we depend on them. Because without understanding need, we shall not be able to understand desire, nor shall we be able to understand passion and therefore love. Whether one is rich or poor, one obviously needs food, clothes, and shelter, though even there the need can be limited, small, or expansive. But beyond that, is there any need at all? Why have our psychological needs become so important, such a compelling, driving force? And are they merely an escape from something much deeper?